Audius is a decentralized music sharing and streaming protocol designed to facilitate direct transactions between listeners and creators, enabling anyone to freely distribute, monetize, and stream any audio content.
The AUDIO token is the native token of the network and is primarily used for the following purposes:
By staking tokens, users can run Discovery Nodes or Content Nodes, which increases their chances of fan discovery and earns them a share of network fees;
By locking tokens, users unlock exclusive features and services such as Artist Tokens and Badges, and gain voting rights as fans who wish to share in the success;
Participation in governance voting allows contributors to shape the future iterations of the protocol.

The protocol includes the following main components:
Content Nodes: A network of nodes operated by users that host content on behalf of artists and control access permissions;
Content Ledger: A single trusted source of all accessible data within the Audius protocol, anchoring references to content stored on Content Nodes;
Discovery Nodes: A network of nodes operated by users that index the Audius Content Ledger and provide an easy-to-query interface for retrieving metadata.